Overwhelmed? Calm yourself down in 3 steps

Welp. It’s been a tough 24 hours for many of us. 

Maybe for you too? 

I feel like overwhelm has been one of the many emotions folks have been feeling. 

The problem with overwhelm is that if you don’t know how to bring yourself back into homeostasis, it can have a lasting effect on all levels of your health, wealth, and happiness. 

Overwhelm can stop you from doing the things you need and want to do. 

Overwhelm can look like you camped out on the couch numbing yourself with TikTok videos.

Overwhelm can make you think that doing any little one thing is too much.

Chronic overwhelm can lead to all kinds of stress-related disease. 

So, it’s important to have some coping tools to get yourself out of this paralyzed state. 

Here are my top three ways to bring yourself out of overwhelm and back to calm:

1) Identify the sensation of what you're feeling. Most of us were not taught how to identify our emotions, how to match what we’re feeling with the name of an emotion, or how to allow that sensation or emotion to move through us and change our state. In fact, folks will identify the state they’re in (tired or scattered for example) rather than the feeling they’re having. The language of emotions is a language that not everyone speaks verbally because they were never taught. For all those reasons, it can be so helpful to identify the sensations you are experiencing in your body. Some examples: My heart feels heavy. I feel pressure in my chest. My jaw feels tight. My head feels buzzy. I feel like I’m floating outside of my body. 

2) Once you’ve identified the sensation, move towards it. Feel it. If you can match the sensation to an emotion (i.e. My heart feels heavy. I’m feeling depressed…) that’s great. Naming the emotion can be so helpful to process it, but it’s not necessary. You can stay with the sensation and then let yourself experience that sensation fully. As best as you can. 

3) Decide how you want to feel. Maybe you want to feel calm or peaceful or joyful. Think about a time when you felt that emotion and allow yourself to experience the sensation of that feeling. A few examples: I feel like my heart is full of bubbles. My body is full of sparkling light. I feel deeply grounded in my heart. Bring the sensations of the emotions you DO want into your body.

It’s common for people to skip over feeling the hard and move right into feeling the good.

Watch your tendency to do this. Be gentle with yourself. And just take the tricky sensations one at a time until you feel neutral. Then you add in the positive sensations

I had an energy work mentor who always reminded us that you need to clean a wound out before you can bandage it to heal and feel better.

It works the same way with your emotions. 

There’s a reason why I spend months with my clients clearing out the old, heavy gunk without trying to wallpaper over the uncomfortable stuff with positive affirmations. 

When you wash a window, then the light can shine in.

Okay lovebug, I’m sending you a hug today and every day,

Rebecca*

PS: I did a training in the Spiritual Playground Facebook group on how to take yourself out of a spin. I’d love it if you’d join the community there.